With Every Death There Is Comfort
by Rose of Fortune
Summary: When Tory's friend dies, she is rendered teary and emotional, not knowing what to do other than brood. She only tells Ben what happens-he's the king of brooding-and he decides to cheer her up, but little do all of the Virals know that Tory has more than one secret she's kept from them all.
1. Bad News

I don't own Virals or anything associated with it.

This is my first Virals fanfic, and I hope you like it. Just so you know, I'm currently waiting to read Seizure. So it won't include anything that has to do with it.

Here we go!

Chapter 1

Tory POV

'No…no, this can't be happening…' I was in temporary shock after the news of my old friend Ciarra…I couldn't believe she was dead.

Flashback

I was sitting at my desk, web surfing, about surfing. I hadn't done it in a while. (Yes she knows how to surf.)

"Tory?" Kit's voice called, "You in there?" My dad came in with an anxious expression. "I've got some bad news," I signaled for him to continue. "I got a call from one of your friend's mothers…a…Ciarra?" He asked, I had told him about her, and I knew he wouldn't have forgotten. My eyes grew wide with stress and wariness. "I'm afraid…she's passed away…" The tears built up in my eyes, and as soon as I blinked, I was out the door, heading to the secret cove. "Tory! Come back!" Kit called.

End Flashback

I had been sitting on the grainy sand for at least five hours. Nothing had slowed my sobs, except that Cooper had come down a few minutes ago, meaning the guys must be in the bunker we had reclaimed.

Quickly wiping my red, swollen eyes and put on a happy face for Ben, Hi, and Shelton. They didn't need to know that I was crying. They wouldn't know what to do even if they found out.

"Hey! Tory!" Hi's voice called out, I glanced toward him, and he halts. "Hey, have you been crying?" he inquired worriedly.

"N-no…I just didn't sleep very well last night…" I lied, and shook my head, making sure my false smile was still in place. Soon the other boys came into view, Ben first, then Shelton. They wave and come to sit with me.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" I asked, honestly curious. They looked at each other questioningly.

"Didn't you get my text? I thought that's why you were here." I shook my head at Shelton's reply; I had left my cell at the house after…that…

They must have noticed my mood change 'cause Hi made an attempt at comedy, which caused Shelton to start chasing him. I laughed lightly, fake, of course, but it would make my friends feel better. Friends…Ciarra… A frown replaced the faux features on my face.

"Tory? What's wrong? I know that something happened. We all do, we're not retards." Ben blurted out. I stared, tears filling my eyes and spilling over before I could stop them, I heard Shelton and Hi still messing around behind us, while I threw myself forward into Ben, clutching his shirt, not thinking _**at all**_. Ben stiffened, at first, then slowly relaxed and began to hold me and stroke my hair.

I didn't think Hi and Shelton would see before I heard outrageous laughter, I turned and they quickly stopped as they saw the clear, crystal drops making rivulets down my cheeks.

"Tory…" the ruffians simultaneously mouthed. I just shook my head and wiped the wetness off my face.

"I'm fine, just…emotional…recently. I just got some bad news a few hours ago, it wasn't exactly…happy." I responded sadly, remembering all the good times I'd had with Ciarra, spitting from the Eiffel Tower, dropping chili dogs on our band directors, getting high off of Oreos, and most of all…'shining'. 'Shining' is a special 'skill' I was going to teach to the Virals, but it seems that I won't be able to do anything like it for a while.

"You know you can tell us anything, right?" Shelton comforts.

"Yeah, I'm just not ready to talk about it. Besides, it's late and we have school tomorrow." I reassure. During all of the commotion, time had passed, and it was now about eleven fifteen. Kit is gonna kill me! I'd never really had a curfew until the whole Mr. Perfect's-dad-is-a-murderer business. Ever since then, my curfew has been 10:00, sharp. Otherwise, I get grounded; I just hope that he'll make an exception for this, since I was currently in half-shock.

"Where were you?" Kit scolds; I ignore him and climb up to my room. I immediately go to the bed and crash, just as I feel my phone vibrating in my back pocket.

It was Jason. Wow… What would he, of all people, be texting me for. I opened my inbox, and looked. The message read:

Hi just wondering wut ur plans r 4 2morrow nite.

Well, what I wanted to say was, "I don't like you so go away." But that would be considered rude, so instead, I replied with;

Sorry, I have a curfew now, can't do anything, some other time?

Hitting send, I got onto my computer until a buzzing sound signaled Jason's text;

Some other time? Definitely! Are you going to the Debutante breakfast/brunch thing? Tell me tomorrow.

Man! He _had _to remind me! I was hoping to play it off like I forgot, but NO! Oh well, I'd just have to 'sleep in'. The last thoughts I had were of the Virals' flares. After, I was in dreamland.

The next morning I woke to the sound of my beeping alarm, and hurriedly put on my Bolton Prep uniform, desperately trying to lengthen my skirt. No go. Unless I wanted to show my butt, it was going to stay at mid-thigh length. So, I went down stairs, but since my attention was still on trying to get the uniform to be more…me, I ended up face down beneath the stairs. Nice going Tory.

"You okay honey?" Oh, no. No, no, no! The devil incarnate is here, in other words, Whitney Dubois. "I came to fix breakfast and to remind you of the brunch tomorrow morning, you better not have forgotten!"

"How could I?" I mumbled, just then remembering the events of yesterday…Ciarra. Man, I'd missed her, the Virals had helped me get over the move, without knowing it of course, but I really needed to talk to some of my old friends… Would I get in trouble if I skipped one day? Yes. Did I care? No.

I whipped my phone out and shot out a text to the other Virals that I wouldn't be there today, but not before promising myself I wouldn't do this again except in extreme cases such as this one. This promise might be one that I'd have to break. Oh, well. It's not to one of my friends so it doesn't really matter.

"Hey, I'm off, I might be home a little late!" I notified it and Kit. And for those of you who didn't connect the dots, 'it' is Whitney. Please don't get her confused with Coop or someone who isn't even there.

"You haven't had breakfast yet!" It protested, and I told her as calmly as I could that I would get something at school, but silently added 'or a gas station somewhere'. Well, it's true. I'm walking to the bunker and gonna take walk to a bus station after I contact Clara, the mediator for Ciarra's and my own fights and Ciarra's sister. She'd know almost exactly what I was going through. Almost.

Logging onto iFollow, I reached the bunker, and saw she was already on. Great minds think alike, much? So, I switched to video conference mode to talk face to face. So I wasn't all too shocked when her face came up on the screen.

"Hey, you heard?" she asked, I nodded somberly. Well, this conversation has turned to such a _**happy**_ subject. Sarcasm noted.

"I can't believe it. I found out yesterday…you know they guys I hang out with? I was actually wondering if you'd fly down here for a visit…I wanted help teaching them how to 'shine'. They passed that test we made without knowing it. I don't want to remember unnecessary things alone…" I rambled. She mirrored my action from earlier and nodded.

"My mom bought me plane tickets for my birthday, I was going to take Ciarra down with me really soon…but that was before…well, you know." She explained. "I'll be on the next flight out there. Most likely I'll be there by the end of the day." Without saying another word, we both signed off, but after, I saw five texts. Two from Hi, and one each from Shelton, Ben, and Jason. Wait…Jason? The heck? I opened the Virals' messages first.

'Tory, you okay?', and 'Are you getting sick again?' were from Hi. Shelton's read, 'I hope it's not another wave of the virus, it was horrible the first time, or is it the thing from last night?' Ben's was simple, which I appreciated, 'I hope you're okay. Get better soon.' Traditional words. Nice and short. Finally. The last message. Jason's.

'Why aren't you in first period? Are you okay? Is it the migraines? Or does it have something to do with Chance and Hannah?' Long, complicated, lots of unavoidable questions I don't want to answer. My appreciation from Ben's text faded to…well, less than pleased. Why is he so stupidly interested in me? It's so freaking annoying! Besides, it's clear that Madison is 'smitten' with him. Using words from Whitney. Don't ask.

Well, I easily got to a bus, and was soon waiting at the airport. This would take a while. Good thing I had Angry Birds and iAssociate 2. And Paper Toss. Good time consuming games. Might download Doors. The best thing for me right now was pointless, long distractions. Plus I had to text everyone back. And decided to tell Ben the truth. I don't know if it's just from crying practically in his arms last night or the text, but I knew he'd be sincere and not pity me. Pity sucks. So, these were my replies:

Hi: I'm fine, no, just some aftershock of…something.

Shelton: It's not, yeah, yeah.

Ben: Thanks, I'm actually skipping to see an old friend. It's about last night. My best friend died. So, I'm seeing her sister about it. Don't tell the others. I don't really want to talk about it.

Jason: I'm sick, but I'll be okay, it doesn't have to do with my migraines or with Chance and Hannah.

I decided it would be okay to lie to Jason, he's annoying me and so… well, that's a bad excuse. He's annoyed me ever since he took an interest. He won't leave me alone. Should be fairly okay now. Plus, I've lied a lot before… especially with the whole Katherine Heaton case-thing. Which, if Kit or the school finds out, I'm so freaking dead. I won't even be able to see Clara.

Time passed, bout and hour and a half, and Ben was the only text that had come through. I was still debating on opening it. Finally, I gained the courage and hit the necessary button.

'Wow, no worries, I won't tell. But I really wouldn't have expected that. You kind of have really bad luck. Am I safe around you? Haha, well, either way I wouldn't leave you alone for a long time. You'd get into a high security jail!' My smile was faint, and was very subtle, but it was there, and genuine. I knew he'd be honest! Either way…what jail isn't high security? And that's exactly what I said. Who knew he'd text something so long? And that he of all people would be the one to cheer me up? Certainly not me.

It had been six hours, Ben and me shooting texts back and forth, always containing playful banter and happy subjects.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a girl with red hair, medium-height and green eyes? Have you seen her?" A familiar voice spoke from behind me. My eyes traveled from toe to head, and they took in the onyx hair, red streaks, and dark gray irises. It was Clara. I'm just going to skip the emotional hugs and stuff, but soon we were in a taxi, on our way to Morris Island. And the beach. Of course, not the private cove for the Virals. The public part that almost no one went to. Except for, apparently, us.

School was most definitely over, and I needed to get back home. Or not.

'Hey, meet me in 20 minutes at _Sewee_, please. I want to cheer you up.' Ben's text. It made me feel…warm? Happy? I don't know. It was a good feeling though. I liked it. I wanted more of it. And since it seemingly came from Ben, I told him sure.

"Hey, do you have a place to stay? I'm sure you could stay in my room at home. And I'm heading there now, we can ask Kit together. Say that you got me out of school." I offered. Implying that I had to hurry. When she nodded, I grabbed her hand and raced back, through the heat, to the townhouse that Kit owned and I stayed in.

"Kit?" I called, and, when heard, raced to his voice. Or, more accurately, him. "Clara, meet Kit, Kit, this is Clara, Ciarra's sister. She got me out of school, I offered for her to stay here, but I really gotta go, so I'm just going to show her to my room, and go, thanks!" I called back, already climbing to my 'roost'. I wasn't going to go as was, of course, I was going to put on a red skirt and a black tank top. With a studded belt, on the outside, and black ballet flats. Don't ask me how I got them, I have no clue. Probably Whitney. Anyway, I didn't bother with makeup, I just threw my hair into a messy pony tail, and deciding to change again, into shorts. Skirts are too…not me. More like Madison.

"What are you doing? Do you have a date?" Clara asked, smirking. I shook my head, and was out the door without a word. That's a conversational ender.

When the dock finally came into view, I knew I was a little late. Oops…Now I feel really bad, he helped me and I'm late to…whatever it is that we're doing.

"Hey, where were you? It's been 40 minutes. You're lucky I decided to wait." Ben greeted, and I smiled…was that shyness? In me? No. Can't be.

"Sorry, I couldn't go any faster, Clara and Kit got in the way…" I looked down at the end, feeling sincerely sorry. "Thanks for waiting, so…what are we doing?" Instead of answering, Ben merely gave me a hand into the boat. Being really polite and gentlemanly. Now that I thought about it, he was dressed fairly nice, too. Kind of like me. Weird. It's not like we like each other. Even if he is…fairly attractive.

Finally, I found that we were docked on a seemingly uninhabited island. With no one to hear my screams.

Just kidding, it's daytime, he'd do it during the night, plus, Ben had a lunch thing... for a picnic? What? Where the heck did that come from? Is this how he's trying to cheer me up? I guess it's working…I mean…I am smiling.

Ben quickly hopped on the wooded walkway, and gave me a hand off, which, for once, I didn't ignore. Looking up at him, I saw that he was, in fact, smiling as well. That's a little rare, I mean, usually he's brooding. But, hey, either way he's…I'm just going to say attractive to keep it rated T on this thing.

"Um, I just want you to know…I just..." I really didn't know how to say this…well, straightforward seems to always work best so, "Thank you. You've really cheered me up, and no one's really been able to do that before." I smiled a little shyly up at him, and when he stared back at me, a grin slowly spread on his face again.

"Tory, when you're sad, everyone else is, too. You're usually so positive, that you don't notice it, but you're emotions are strong enough for a city, mushy as this sounds, it's true. You don't know the effect you have on people." Ben replied, making me redden a teensy bit on my cheeks and the tips of my ears. But he wasn't done. "So, therefore, I wanted to cheer you up, it's really no fun when you're sad." By this point, I was redder than when I get sunburned.

"Um, thanks, again…I really…I don't…" I was more tongue tied than ever, and that's saying a lot. I can't wait for the rest of the day. Maybe we'll switch the rest of our personalities later.


	2. A Date

_**SH: Okay, so, I'm really sorry, it's been a while, but here's the next chapter! I skipped most of the day, 'cus I suck at long dialogue things, and didn't feel like doing more than necessary, plus, I had writer's block.**_

With Every Death There is Comfort

Chapter 2

Tory POV

Ben and I had already had our picnic, and spent the rest of the time just talking, and every time that I even started thinking about Ciarra, Ben somehow knew, ending up with him tickling me…How did the guys find out about me being ticklish? But, the day was coming to an end, the sun was setting and we were headed back to the bunker. Once there, we stood awkwardly across from each other, silently.

"Ummm, thanks for taking me out there…I had a great time." I shyly thanked, Ben smiled, then nodded in acknowledgment.

"No problem, I'm glad I could help. Are you feeling better?" he wondered, and I just nodded, as he did earlier. That was when things got embarrassing.

"Where the heck have you guys been? I thought you were sick Tory? And Ben, you disappeared right after school! Did you guys go on a date?" Hi and Shelton's faces turned into devious expressions, while Ben and I turned bright red, or, I turned bright red, Ben was just slightly pink.

"No, Ben was helping me out with something." I defended myself, still blushing horribly. Which didn't make me look good for this semi-lie. Semi, because it wasn't really a date. Some might have considered it that, but I didn't.

"Sure, what the heck could Ben possibly be helping you with?" Of course, we've faced bad guys, genetic experiments, and guns and now Shelton decides to get a spine! But, at that question, a frown came over my face, and I looked down. Ben noticed, and glared fiercely at both the other Virals.

"She doesn't want to talk about it, but if she wants me to tell you, I will." Ben defended, stepping in front of me, then, at the end, looked back towards me to see my answer. Slowly, hesitantly, I nodded, then motioned that I was going home so as to not have to think about it more than I had to, and already was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I reached home with no incidents, and Clara greeted me at the door, to see how my 'date' went. Why does everyone think there's something going on between Ben and me? It's ridiculous! Not to mention that everyone spreads rumors about me possibly being a skank, but what do you expect people to think when you hang out with three boys and have no girlfriends whatsoever?

"It wasn't a date!" I finally screeched at dinner, after Whitney had shown up, due to news traveling fast around here, and Kit calling her to say that I might not be there for dinner. He'd assumed I was going to Ben's for the rest of the day. Till, say, like midnight. Then Whitney heard that I was back and came over to choke the details of me. She and Clara would get along up until the subject of makeup and style.

"Then why did you get a little dressed up? It had to be a date! You even put on lip gloss! You HATE makeup! Why would you do that unless it was a date?" Clara was super ecstatic about this. I wasn't. And, yes, I may not have mentioned it before, but I did put a miniscule amount of lip gloss on. It wasn't anything too flashy, it was basically Chap Stick.

"Look," I started, "There isn't anything between Ben and I, and we are JUST FRIENDS. He's been helping me get over Ciarra's death, and that's all!" I stood abruptly from the table, and departed towards my room, it was time to get rid of the massive headache they'd all caused, but it gets worse. Jason texted a second after I shut the door.

'Hey, r u there? U nevr answered if u were going to the debutante brunch tomorrow.' Ugh, I don't want to go~ I mentally whined. Would Kit let me skip? The answer is: No. He loves Whitney way more than he loves me. Or that's what it seems like when it comes to stuff like this.

'Ya, I am, but only for a little while.' I replied, deciding that if he asked me out, Ben would suddenly be my date to the damn brunch, I wasn't going down alone. I should probably warn Ben.

'Hey, Jason is most likely going 2 ask me to a brunch thing tomorrow, HELP ME D:' I think that got the message through his head. The next messages arrived simultaneously, one from each of the boys I was texting.

'Do u already have a date?' Now I can honestly say yes, because Ben's text was the best message I'd read in a while.

'Do I have to wear a tux?' Since when did everything he did make me laugh? I guess since now, considering that was his only response to my 'distressing' text.

'Sadly, yes -_-. ' I replied, exhausted already from just knowing that I'd have to explain all this to Whitney and Clara… Grrr, when did my life get so damn frustrating?! By the end of the week, I'd _really_ have migraines.

A slight vibration came from my phone, signaling Ben's message, 'Darn, but at least I won't stand out for once.' Again, I laughed, we had always stood out from everyone else, especially when I wore that pink dress to the first cotillion event, ugh, that brings back nightmares.

'I can't promise that, not with the dresses that Whitney chooses, blargh,' I commented, immediately sending the text. Once again, I dread talking to my old friend and 'mom' about this… They were going to murder me if I didn't give them the juicy, amazing, nonexistent details.

'I'm sure they're not that bad, if Jason's interested in you,' was Ben's next message. Did he have to remind me that Jason was so extremely, annoyingly interested? I'd made it clear before that I wasn't.

_**Ok, so that's all I have, I'm REALLY stuck, I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, I'm stressed about school, and I have homework every night, I'm in a new algebra program, all honors, including band, I'm really am sorry, I've also had writer's block and been helping out around the house a whole bunch. I know that to you, these are probably just excuses, but they're real problems, and obstacles keeping me from writing. I'll try to update, but I make no promises anymore.**_


	3. A Little More Than Brunch

Chapter 3

Tori POV

I showed up to the brunch in a forest green summer dress, it went down to my mid-thigh, and was made of a soft, silky, smooth material. It had a white, short sweater to go over it, and overall wasn't that bad of a dress. The flats on my feet cut into my heels, and made it extremely difficult to walk without wincing slightly, and the headband holding my hair back made a headache occur.

Ben had picked me up on the dock at 10 sharp, and had driven us both to the well-known restaurant rented for Cotillion's use. Ben was wearing a nice, button-up shirt, and good jeans. He'd said he didn't own a tux, which I knew was a lie, but ignored, laughing.

I'd already seen the Tripod, and they'd looked at me with glaring eyes, and taunting smirks in place. One of them, I didn't pay too much attention to which one, was on Jason's arm, and I laughed a little, catching Ben's attention.

"Looks like she's finally got what she wanted," I pointed out, and he nodded, leading me to the food. I was slightly scared to eat anything; Whitney had plastered my face with makeup, with much protest to me. There was green eye shadow-meant to make my eyes pop-with mascara that made my lashes look completely fake. Eyeliner lined my eyes, and blush made me look like I had a healthy bit of red on my cheeks.

"We don't have to eat if you don't want to, I just thought you'd be hungry, you mentioned that you didn't have breakfast due to Whitney's fussing," Ben began to walk the opposite way, but I grabbed his elbow, shaking my head.

"No, I'm starving, I'm just worried about Whitney's future comments on my makeup, haha," I laughed lightly, dragging him back the original direction he had chosen.

If there was anything about Cotillion I could compliment, it would be the food. The buffet table was laden with a number of delectable foreign dishes. There were crepes, some Chow Mein, and other foods I couldn't name.

I grabbed at least a bite of many of the delicious items, and my mouth was watering at the end of the second table. If I weren't at a Debutante event, this food would all already be in my stomach.

"Well, you're hungry," Ben commented, and I rolled my eyes, sticking my tongue out at him playfully.

"Of course, I'm a growing girl," I used my dad's words from this morning, and Ben laughed lightly. In the past, I don't think I'd ever really heard Ben laugh before, and now he seemed to be doing it all the time around me, at least.

"Well, as long as you stay shorter than me, I can deal with that," Ben nodded, and I softly elbowed him, resulting in him being nudged into the Tripod of Skank. Well, don't I just have perfect timing?

"Oh, look, it's the little island people, I didn't realize this was a zoo!" Madison's faux excited voice instantly had me on full alert. The Tripod smirked at me, the three girls all putting their weight on one hip.

"Go back to Jason, I thought that he was what you wanted," I glared. The Tripod did the same.

"Guys, let's go over to the buffet," Jason's voice came from across a couple of people, and then he caught sight of me. Next he saw Ben. His jaw tightened. "Oh, hey Tori, and…and your date, why didn't you tell me Ben would be here?"

"You didn't ask," I tried to shrug it off nonchalantly, but both Ben and Jason were participating in a staring contest that I wasn't willing to interrupt, but I guessed that I'd have to anyway. "Um, Ben, let's head on over to the stage, ok? They have a band playing; we might as well check it out, right?" I grabbed Ben's forearm and ineffectively attempted to drag him away. But Ben is stronger than me. After a few more minutes of poking and prodding, he decided to come with me, his glare almost-but not quite-leaving his face. Neither of us turned back to watch Jason get tempted by food by Madison, Courtney, and Ashley.

The rest of the brunch went by relatively dull, Ben and I stayed away from Jason and his accompaniment, and they did likewise. One thing kept us from too many jokes and laughs, and that was that Ben's face remained in a scowl throughout the event.

He wordlessly helped me into Sewee at the end, and the rush of the wind was a welcome to both of us. I waited for Ben to be completely calm before I spoke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you into them, I should have known better," I apologized, even if it really wasn't my fault, he'd helped me more than enough to deserve an apology.

"Don't you dare say sorry, Tori, you and I both know it's not your fault," Ben snapped, causing me to raise my eyebrows, yet wait for him to say more. "What is it with that guy? He just won't give up!" my companion grouched, stopping the boat rather suddenly. "Tori, I have to ask you this, do you like him?" Ben seemed way too intense about this.

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "No, never even a possibility of that happening!" I shook my head slowly.

"Ok, I'm going to do something, and I want you to be open minded, you tend to be the opposite." Ben was frantic. The furrow between my eyebrows deepened.

"Ben, what are you doing?" I wondered, and Ben crossed the space between us in one swift step, grabbing my face in my hands, and planting his mouth on mine quickly. My initial shock faded, and then my eyes softly closed and my mouth began to move against his as I kissed back and butterflies fluttered in my stomach and a harsh blush rose to my pale cheeks.

I'm so sorry that I've been away so long, if you'll look at my profile and on my other stories then you'll know that I'll update as much as possible during July, and most likely I'll end up doing it on Fridays. I won't be able to update even half us much during August due to marching band and then school. R&R! Thank you guys! I hope you like it! I apologize in advance if I'm a little-or VERY-late on updating. I'll keep you guys posted so you know when I can't/won't update.


	4. The New Couple

Chapter 4

Tori POV

It wasn't long before we parted, and my wide eyes seemed to smile for me back at Ben. Our slightly ragged breaths mixed together slightly, as we stared at each other.

"So that's what you were doing," I smartly concluded and Ben laughed breathily.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, Brennan," he commented and I playfully jabbed him in the stomach with my finger. "Ouch," he spoke up slightly.

"So," I began slowly, "What does this mean for us?" I wondered, biting my bottom lip a little.

"It means," Ben whispered, "I'm going to ask you to go out with me in about two seconds."

"Well what's stopping you?" I asked, stepping even closer to him.

"I said two seconds, didn't I?" the teenager across from me took a deep breath as if to prepare himself. "So, Victoria Brennan, will you go out with me?"

"What do you think?" I teased, leaning up to place a quick kiss on his lips. Even though I tried to pull away quickly to tease him more, he wrapped a single arm around me to hold me there and bring me closer and closer still until I stumbled forward slightly. The strong arm that was around me quickly caught me and kept me from falling, but kept the distance between us-which was no distance-the same.

"I think you should answer properly, Brennan," he teased back. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," I stuck my tongue out-almost accidentally licking his face in the process, luckily I managed to avoid that-and began to give my answer, "I would love to go out with you." After so long of being friends we were a couple. It was a strange concept to consider, let alone execute.

"Well, I guess I should get you home before your dad ends up carving my name into a bullet." Ben joked, knowing full well that my dad probably preferred me having a boyfriend as proof that I had a social life other than breaking the law.

"Oh yes, because my dad definitely would do that," Sarcasm coated my few words as I entwined our hands together. I didn't know how I knew what to do in this situation, I'd never had a boyfriend before, but there was some instinct in me that told me what to do.

"I knew it," he joked. "So, do you wanna leave, or stay out here?" I shrugged undecided. "Well, considering how much you complain about dresses, and although you look amazing in that one, I suggest we go change out of these suffocating clothes, then go find a shady spot on Loggerhead to hang out." I smiled at his plan, and remembered how much he hated tuxes.

"Sounds good," I agreed, and reluctantly, Ben and I extricated us from the other's hold.

"You know, you might want to cool off before you go inside, you're _red_," Ben suggested, and I rolled my eyes.

"You know," I started off as he did, "That's kind of your fault."

Ben merely laughed, which was a little different than what she was used to, but he continued on and started up the boat again.

I got home with no trouble, Ben and I almost didn't leave the boat, but then we'd heard the other Virals coming and quickly parted ways.

"Oh, Tori, dear, will you come in the kitchen please?" the she-devil's voice rang out through the townhouse and I complied. "You see, Tori, your father and I have something to tell you," Whitney started, "I'm moving in, darling, isn't it just wonderful!" she exclaimed happily, and I glared at Kit, I'd told him to give me warning, needless to say, I didn't receive one.

Kit looked back at me worriedly, but I ignored them both, especially their protests once I hastily exited the room and climbed up to mine.

I tore the dress off, replacing it with torn blue jeans as well as a black tank top. I pulled off the headband and the flats, trading those for a ponytail and grey converse.

I heard Whitney's whispers, as well as Kit's as I slipped out the door and ran to the dock. I didn't even want to think about anything going on. Then I remembered about Clara, and vaguely wondered where she was, but she could take care of herself, and she probably got bored. This morning she went on an exploration of Morris Island, and she could still be doing that.

I reached Sewee in record time, before Ben, and jumped in, settling in one of the back seats. My heavy heartbeat and breathing were only intensified as I almost suffocated at the thought of Whitney Dubois living in my house. She would, no doubt, peek into my room and my stuff, and my life. I would have little to no privacy anymore, and that was the one major thing that was nagging at my mind.

"Hey, you change fast," was Ben's only comment as he hopped into the boat. Then he got a look at my horrified face. "What happened?"

"Whitney…she's moving in." I snarled, then realized how mean I sounded, and I backpedaled at Ben's surprised face, "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I-I don't know…" I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

Ben laid a hand on one of my hunched shoulders. "I'll drive to Loggerhead, then we'll talk, ok?" he offered. I nodded tiredly.

"Thank you," I slouched down in my seat as Ben drove the boat to the island. Wind tossed my hair from its ponytail and strands flew into my face. It was always relieving to be on Sewee, especially when stressing events had been going on.

By the time we got to the research island I was half asleep, and Ben had to rouse me from my light nap. When a hand was laid on my arm my eyes snapped open in response.

"Come on, we're here," Ben said softly prodded, and I slowly got up, giving him a grateful smile. I still didn't know why he was doing all this… we were going out, but he never truly said how he felt, this could just be a fling.

Ben and I crossed the beach to the tree line, "So, they just dropped that bomb on you?" he wondered, entwining our fingers together and sitting on a small moss-covered rock surrounded by bushes and trees.

"Yeah, I guess Whitney pushed until he decided that I was fine from the news of Ciarra and I could take it. Maybe his reasoning has something to do with the fact that I've broken the law so many times and been put in dangerous situations and handled those well." I shrugged, leaning against him in an exhausted fashion.

"Well, he should have thought that through a little more then," Ben commented, and I shrugged, not knowing how to respond anymore. "Hey, it'll be ok," he nudged me in a prompting way, but I refused to speak, burying my face into his shoulder. "Tori," Ben drew out my name in a whining manner, which, considering it sounded a little too much like Hiram, made me laugh. "That's what I was looking for," he smiled, lifting my chin up.

"Well then, now onto the next issue. How the hell are we going to explain…_us_ to Hi and Shelton?" I couldn't even imagine how those two clowns would react, probably something along the lines of them screaming what and then teasing us nonstop until we knock them unconscious.

"I have no clue. Tell us what?" Ben and I whipped around to see Hi and Shelton. Well, I guess we had to tell them sometime…

So, I just found out that I won't be here Friday, and I got some great reviews, so this is a reward/makeup-update because I won't have internet connection for about three days starting tomorrow. But thanks for the reviews and everything! Love you guys! R&R!


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